Mortem, Funus, Tristitiae
by A Beautiful Oblivion
Summary: Shaun raised his eyes to the simple wooden coffin, where a solitary white flower had been delicately placed by his own hand, and winced as memories flooded through his body. MAJOR SPOILERS for Revelations.


**Shaun never really mentions what happened at the funeral in _Revelations_. He sounded so sad, though D: Basically, I just make him ramble on and on, so if you have nothing better to do, read this story o3o**

**OH MY GOD SO MANY SPOILERS.**

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><p>"...Make me to hear joy and gladness," the priest monotoned Shaun gritted his teeth, hearing nothing besides the father's dull voice and the wind. He was alone, at his friend's funeral. Shaun raised his eyes to the simple wooden coffin that held Lucy's body, where a solitary white flower had been delicately placed by his own hand, and winced as memories flooded through his body.<p>

"That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice..."

Shaun couldn't help but snort as he heard this line, earning a pause and a stern look from the priest as he continued reading. The psalm really _was _ridiculous. Let my broken bones rejoice?

His eyes found their way back to the coffin, despite his attempts to look at something, _anything _else. Just a few hours ago, Lucy had been alive, and more excited than any of them about finding the Apple—

The Apple. Shaun squeezed his eyes shut as he heard, yet again, that awful sound of flesh being punctured that had haunted him since he left the Coliseum.

"Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities." Damned priest was still talking. Couldn't he give the grieving party some time alone with his thoughts?

And really, the priest was there for no one's benefit. Shaun wanted him gone, and Lucy couldn't hear him. She was dead; what did she care if some guy read thousand-year old words to her?

The historian raised his eyes to the clear Italian sky. Somewhere, thousands of miles away, Rebecca might be looking at the same sky.

Loneliness ached in his heart. The two people he actually cared about were out of his reach.

And Desmond? Shaun had no sympathy for that _fucking_ American. What exactly was going through Desmond's mind when he decided to kill her? She had done _nothing _wrong!

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

He still had no idea what had happened in the vault, or why. All he knew was they had the Apple, and Lucy had to somehow die for that to happen. But she _didn't_! No one ever _had _to die.

Shaun stared at the coffin again, seething at the unfairness of this whole situation. He suddenly wished it was open-casket, despite his aversion to death, just so he could see her face. He hadn't actually seen her since before she'd died; he was too busy with Rebecca making preparations for her and Desmond to be shipped to America, while other Assassins tried to keep Lucy alive.

He'd heard it, though. As soon as she and Desmond had collapsed to the ground, Assassins swarmed into the vault, somehow knowing something had happened. Shaun had turned away and deliberately didn't look at Lucy's still form while he'd talked, voice strained, to Rebecca. He'd heard the other Assassins' yelling grow louder, as they shouted things like: "She's losing blood fast!", "Her heart rate's dangerously low!", or: "Someone administer CPR!"

Finally, despite the Assassins' best efforts, Lucy had died at 1:47 AM, her death declared by one of the Assassins, a doctor. At least two of the ten or so working on her had been doctors, but they still weren't able to save her. Three attended to Desmond, who should've been left for dead.

And through all the noise, Shaun had heard Lucy's last painful, dying breath.

As soon as Rebecca had heard of her friend's death, she'd rushed to Lucy's side for goodbyes. Not Shaun, though. He never even looked at her. The last thing he could remember about Lucy was the look of pain and shock on her face as Desmond sunk his blade into her stomach.

"Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me."

How was it possible that twelve hours ago everyone had been alive and together? Shaun could remember exactly what they'd all been doing at eleven the night before. Desmond had been in the Animus - obviously - Rebecca was freaking out because of how close they were to the Apple, Lucy had been typing away at her computer, and he, Shaun, had researched like mad, trying to find out if there indeed _was _a hidden vault under the Coliseum.

How did Desmond get away with being alive? Didn't killing a person make you so unworthy of your life that you no longer deserved to live it? Sure, Shaun had killed before, so had Lucy, so had Rebecca, but it was part of his job. He hadn't known the victim, wasn't _friends _with her!

He knit his eyebrows together, trying to stop the tears. Taking a deep breath, he calmed down sufficiently. No matter how much he tried to justify it, Desmond didn't deserve the life he'd been given. Shaun's logical way of thinking tried to overrule this, telling him that Desmond's actions _must've _had something to do with the Apple he'd been holding, but Shaun still wouldn't forgive him. He doubted he'd ever be able to.

"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." He'd totally tuned out the priest by this point; his words were nothing but background noise.

The cemetery was on the top of a hill, surrounded by grasslands. Rome was spread out to his right, the Castello and St. Peter's rising above everything else. Instead of the massive red flag atop the Castello that he was used to seeing, a large, rather hideous bronze angel poised. He curled his lip at it - he'd always hated that angel - then turned back to Lucy.

"Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee."

_Yes, teach transgressors,_ Shaun couldn't help thinking._ Teach them what it feels like to hurt._ "Them" specifically referred to Desmond, who was in a fucking _coma_ and clearly didn't care that Lucy was dead. And she'd _liked _him!

Once again, Shaun felt the brief flash of jealousy that he always did whenever Desmond and Lucy talked. It wasn't that he liked the blonde, he just couldn't stand to see Desmond with her. Desmond was never meant to have anything with her.

And it was the only real reason she was in that coffin now. Why wasn't Shaun dead, or Rebecca? Desmond's connection to Lucy had ultimately caused her death.

"Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness."

Shaun heaved a sigh, wishing for the hundredth time humans had invented the ability to time travel. It was theoretically impossible, of course, but he liked to think that if he could just go back twelve hours, stop Desmond from rushing to grab the Apple, everything would be normal again. Lucy would still be alive... And then what? She had mentioned informing headquarters once the Apple was obtained. All four of them would probably be in New York City by now.

Together.

"O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise."

Lifting his glasses, Shaun rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. Had it _really_ been only last night that Lucy was alive? It felt like years. So much had happened, but he was so clueless about most of it. _Why _was Lucy even dead? This was the question that kept bouncing around his head. It felt so unfair, so unreal, that the irrational part of his brain refused to believe it.

"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering."

Lucy couldn't be dead, she just couldn't. Without her, their whole team would fall apart. But hadn't it? They'd been split in half, and three - two and a half - people was a pathetic number for a team at best. And the only two sane members were thousands of miles apart. They were broken, and no amount of fixing could repair them to the way they were before.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." The priest wasn't finished yet? It felt like he'd been talking for hours.

"Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar."

The priest shut his book and it took Shaun a couple seconds to register that he was finally done. With a nod, condolence written on his face, the priest began his descent down the hill, leaving Shaun alone with the coffin.

He knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to do it. To send Lucy down, he needed to push a button on the panel next to him and the coffin would be lowered into its hole. Then, he needed to push another button and a panel would slide across the opening, made of a steel that would never rust or break down.

He wasn't ready yet. This was the last real chance he'd have to talk to Lucy, to feel her presence. What was the last thing he'd actually said to her...? Some sarcastic remark, probably. He needed to set his mind right.

Taking a deep breath, he began, "Lucy... I know we didn't really talk much, and I was a complete douche to you - to all of you - but _I _consider you my friend, and... I hope you felt the same way." He laid a hand on the polished wooden surface of the coffin. "You don't deserve to be in this box. You deserve to be alive, you deserve to laugh again, to feel joy, happiness. Not pain." Remembering something, he added, "This was the only Bible verse I've ever memorized. I hope it relates to your experience now, wherever you are."

Breathing deeply, a few times, Shaun continued, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain." He felt the first tear build and fall out of his right eye as the full revelation hit him. Lucy _was _dead, and she wasn't coming back.

"I promise you," he whispered fiercely. "I promise that I won't rest until we find every single one of those temples, until we _stop _the Templars." Bowing his head so steeply his forehead nearly touched the coffin, he breathed out, "I promise I'll finish what you started."

Shaun remained like this for a few seconds, not wanting to move, but eventually he straightened out and pushed the button.

Lucy's coffin lowered itself into the dirt hole, then the metal panel slid across. There was a sharp click, sealing her and her flower inside the hole forever. No matter how hard you tried, you wouldn't be able to get past that metal.

Shaun glanced once at the simple granite gravestone at the head of the hole, then looked back at the sealed grave, about to say something else. However, he just turned and walked away.

She was gone. She wasn't coming back.

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><p><strong>I like to think that Shaun and Rebecca didn't know why Desmond ended up stabbing Lucy. How could they know Juno was making him?<strong>

**I just want to give him a hug ;_;**


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